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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 1 Hansard (21 February) . . Page.. 134 ..

MR DE (continuing):

I am pleased to advise that the Government has accepted each and every one of these recommendations. The task force considered it essential, as part of the regulatory reform process, to formally identify a Minister within Cabinet as holding responsibility for regulatory reform. The task force believed that the appointment of a Minister will send a strong message to both the public and private sectors that the Government places regulatory reform as a high priority on its agenda and that it recognises that a leadership role is required from within government. The Government agrees with the task force and has agreed to designate a single Minister as holding responsibility for regulatory reform. The task force proposed that the Business Regulation Review Unit within the Department of Business, the Arts, Sport and Tourism be tasked with providing a central focus for coordinating and furthering best practice in regulatory reform on a whole-of-government basis. The Government agrees. The Business Regulation Review Unit will report to the Minister for Regulatory Reform, and that Minister will prepare an annual report to the Assembly on progress in this area.

It should be noted that the report's proposals relating to regulatory needs analysis and business impact assessment, which proposals the Government has accepted, represent an extension and refinement of what the Government has already agreed to in the form of business impact statements. Similarly, the Government has already agreed to a staged review of existing regulations as part of its commitment to the national competition policy agreements.

When I first received the task force report, I was interested to see that the report contains as an attachment details of laws that affect business in the ACT, and surprised when told that this is the first time that such a listing has been undertaken. This information will be invaluable in the coming two years as the Government sets about reducing the volume and burden of regulation on business in the ACT. I note that the report identifies that many businesses have expressed concern at the number and range of licences needed for particular tasks and that many businesses are not even aware of what licences they require, unless and until they are being inspected and found in breach. To address some of those concerns, the task force has recommended that the ACT Government develop a pilot scheme for a master licence system. Again, the Government agrees, and the feasibility of a pilot scheme will be examined this year.

A key recommendation of the task force is that the Government consider the implementation of management standards against which the regulatory performance of agencies can be assessed. These management standards would in practice codify the broad processes required for regulatory needs analyses and business impact assessments and could extend to issues such as information accessibility, client responsiveness and complaint resolution mechanisms. The Government is in agreement with the task force's view that the achievement of these management standards could conceivably become part of CEO performance agreements as one of the key accountabilities. This approach will be further explored during the year, with draft management standards to be developed by the Business Regulation Review Unit in conjunction with the Chief Minister's Department.

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